ANTI Festival 2021 – Call for proposals on the theme of gifts and giving
Media release 15.12.2020
#ANTIisagift
The 20th edition of ANTI – Contemporary Art Festival will take place between 14th and 19th September 2021 in Kuopio, Finland. We now invite artists, working in any field, to propose projects that directly engage with the theme of gifts and giving.
In addition see here for the Reality Research Center’s call for applications to the Residency for Impossible Performance initiative.
As we approach our 20th festival, amid these challenging times, we turn to an idea that sits at the heart of ANTI Festival’s mission – free to attend for audiences, the festival is framed from within; its name translates from the Finnish as ‘gift’.
“What better time, as we celebrate two decades of activity, to think through the founding principle of the festival – to give, to be in the act of giving. When working on ANTI we have often returned to the idea of the pure gift – an act which is not elicited, not bought, not reciprocated, not anticipated perhaps, but instead breaks our more usual models of exchange, it disrupts and often makes us uncomfortable. It doesn’t require anything in return, its value is not expressed by what might be offered back, instead it sets up a different kind of exchange, a different kind of encounter. Ideas of giving evoke similarly challenging acts – to give care, to give attention, to give one’s self,”
Artistic Directors Gregg Whelan and Johanna Tuukkanen write.
We are seeking to identify between two and five small scale projects, through the open call. Supported projects will sit within a broader programme of invited works.
Successful projects will engender engagement with audiences and publics and will have a physical manifestation on the ground in Kuopio – remote and digital projects can be proposed however an element of the project must engage directly with the festival’s local audience and environment. Possible areas projects may focus on include:
Public acts of giving
Performance as gift
The object as gift
Discreet giving
Intangible gifts
The gift to mark time
Social care practices
Art as gift
Submitting a Proposal for ANTI Festival 2021
When proposing a project to ANTI Festival please make sure your work responds to the festival’s focus on public space (including interior and privately owned spaces). We do not show projects in traditional cultural spaces (galleries, theatres etc.) so your proposed project will need to have an integral relationship with the place in which it is presented and your proposal will need to outline where your work could be located.
The proposal form allows a link to be made to online documentation of previous work and for applicants to attach a CV and a maximum of three supporting images. Proposals that do not strictly conform to these guidelines will not be considered.
We strongly advise you spend some time getting to know ANTI Festival before making an application, our Vimeo page is a great place to get a sense of past editions of the festival.
Equality & Diversity
ANTI Festival is a discrimination-free event. We do not tolerate racism, ageism, sexism, heterosexism, transphobia, ableism, class discrimination or comments on people’s bodies. We want to work for equality, diversity and anti-racism. Read what this means to us in practice here!
Please read our principles of a safer space here and submit application only if you can commit to these principles!
The questions of equality, diversity and anti-racism are a fixed part of the ANTI Festival curating process. We encourage especially artists with diverse and marginalised backgrounds to send their proposals to us!
Electric Form & Deadline
Send your proposal by using this electric form (link). The proposal deadline for all proposals is 15.1.2021 at 16.00 (EET/Finnish time).
We will not process applications sent after the deadline.
More information
We will be on holidays between 18th Dec 2020 and 11th Jan 2021. We will reply to questions on
Tue 15th Dec between 9 am. and 11 am.
Wed 16th Dec between 10 am. and 4 pm.
Mon 4th Jan 2021 between 2 pm. and 4 pm. and
from Mon 11th to Fri 15th Jan 2021, throughout the week.
We apologise for not being able to react to all of the many questions you are sending us close to the deadline.
See our Q&A : Open Call 2021 to find answers to commonly asked questions!
Please read the application guidelines and Q&A (link) carefully and submit your application. If you still have questions, please contact Elisa Itkonen, elisa@antifestival.com / +358 50 305 2005!